Ninety-two percent of Americans favor background checks for all potential gun buyers, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll.

Universal background checks are one of the proposals that President Obama has called on Congress to pass as part of his proposal to combat gun violence in the wake of the massacre in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school in December.

Licensed gun dealers already must run background checks, but unlicensed dealers and private sellers, many of whom sell guns at gun shows or over the internet, are not required to do so.

Support for universal background checks went across party lines:
89 percent of Republicans
93 percent of Democrats and Independents were in favor
93 percent of gun households
85 percent of those living in a household with a member of the National Rifle Association

Look, if nothing else a check before being able to purchase will keep non-criminal but people with perhaps a history of mental illness from being able to buy them.

Of course real criminals will skirt any measure brought out, but there are a whole slew of people out there who, while they may not have a criminal record, still have no business owning a firearm.

ITS NOT a cure all, and i never said that... on the other hand, its just a damn check, you have to have one at Cabelas, so why not the gun show?

Do you have any idea if a person is insane or not? Neither does the guy who is looking unload a weapon and sells to someone he doesn't know. Boom, crazy guy with a gun.

These checks prevent VERY VERY few people who shouldn't have access to a weapon from actually getting one. All they really do is aggravate the law abiding citizen and create a database that has no business being created.

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"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, and disregard of all the rules."

100 percent bullcrap. There is no national database of people with "perhaps a history of mental illness". Nor will there ever be one.

So, to answer your question "why not?" - Because it won't make any difference. Because it's none of the government's business what I'm buying. Because it violates my right to privacy. Pick one.

Yeah, that's a good point concerning the mental health side of the background check. Where is the background check supposed to be pulling mental health information from? Are we going to start requiring psychiatrists to upload their patient reports to some database if they would suspect mental issues? How about if you're on any mood altering drugs, you have to submit your information to the "Mental Health Database", should it theoretically exist. I'm sure every US citizen on mood altering drugs wouldn't mind submitting their information right? It's for the children after all, and if it could save 1 life....

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Some on here need some perspective. Remember Haley/Crennel/Gunther/Herm etc. it can get a lot worse.

The NFL hired 2 of Reid's OC’s to be head coaches in the last 3 years. One is already in the Super Bowl this year with Foles as his QB. If any NFL team needs a coach and Reid is available, they will hire him over any person on the face of the earth, except for Bellicheck.

so far this year, 26 people(as of this morning) have been murdered in Chicago. will this help reduce future killings in Chicago? if yes, how?

This, combined with other forms of strengthening the ability to track gun purchases can expose people that have no problem selling a gun that will later be used in a crime. Guns used in crimes don't just come from Mexico. Plenty (likely most) of them come from local outlets. This doesn't mean just because someone sells a gun used in a crime should be in trouble, but the patterns that will be found won't lie. It's about taking a comprehensive approach to stop straw purchases and apprehend people that execute and/or facilitate them.

This, combined with other forms of strengthening the ability to track gun purchases can expose people that have no problem selling a gun that will later be used in a crime. Guns used in crimes don't just come from Mexico. Plenty (likely most) of them come from local outlets. This doesn't mean just because someone sells a gun used in a crime should be in trouble, but the patterns that will be found won't lie. It's about taking a comprehensive approach to stop straw purchases and apprehend people that execute and/or facilitate them.